Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-02-02
Game of Bluff.

A Game of Bluff.
Our Canadian friends are said to be
putting on their war paint so as to
scare Uncle Sam out his attitude of
retaliation for the outrages commit
ted upon American fishermen. A
member of the Dufferin Guards has
made the fearful disclosure that drill
ing is going on at various points in
Lower Canada. and that five thous-
and men are ready at minutes no.
tice to form a standing army. Not
only this, but we also learn that the
British Admiralty has ordered q feet
to rendezvous in Canadian waters &:
once. evidently to be in position to
awe Us into submission or to whip US
out of our own boots, if need be. To
make matters worse, we are made
painfully conscious of our helpless
ness in this emergency by the fact
proclaimed by resolution in the
lower House of Congress that our
principal harbors = San Francisco
among the number-are in SO de-
fenceless condition that they must
surrender to the first hostile demon
stration. Well, all this is bad enough,
and we might bear it with equinimi-
ty; but when we are told that every
pensioner of the imperial service at
Brantford, Canada, is ready to move
10 the front at q moments notice we
begin to shake.
The present is hardly time when
Great Britain can afford to let her
Canadian dependency precipitate
war with us. The aspect of affairs in
Europe is too threatening to permit
the Home Government to complicate
the difficulties of the hour by cater
ing to the bluster of our Canadian
neighbors. When the Brantford i'm
perial pensioners move to the front
they will receive "a warm and fit
ting greeting. We have no fear
of anything that may come
from the Dominion, even in our
pr esent unprepared and defenseless
condition. 1t will not take us long to
place the frontier ON a warlike foot
ing; nor will it require more time
tn an we will have to render our har-
bors and coasts perfectly defensible
against any force or armament Great
Britain may bring against them.
Yet we would not, for moment,
be understood to counsel any delay in
placing our ports and frontiers on a
defensible footing. The present SEN
sation may help.to rouse Congress to
action, and if it does, it will have
accomplished a beneficial purpose.
The United States are determined to
bring this fishery question to con-
clusion. 1t has been allowed too
long to remain unsettled. And the
stand the Senate has taken on the
subject is not only a patriotic one,
but is the only one the country will
endorse under the circumstances.
We can retaliate upon our neighbors
in way that will make them feel
keenly their illiberal dog-in-the-man-
ger policy. Hostile threats will not
turn us from our course. If they
want fight, no doubt they can get it,
for it is commodity that is glut in
the American market. But the long
heads in Downing street, who are the
ones that will have the all.potent
say in this matter, will think twice
before they will countenance resort
to arms. They know lit won't pay,
they know it won't win, and they
know that we are right. Above all,
they know that when all Europe is a
powder magazine, which spark may
1t any moment set off, it is no time
to strain matters with the United
States about Canadian mackerel.
The Canadians say we shall not fish
within three marine leagues of their
shores. We don't want to fish with
in that limit. But when they count
their three marine leagues from head
lands, thus shutting in great
stretches Of the waters common to
mankind, We will not stand it. We
can revise our tariff in a manner so
that the business prosperity of Cam
ada, dependent nearly altogether
upon our admission of their staples
snd commodities into the United |
eeates, shall como to = sudden termi- |
nation. This We will do until our
neighbors come to their senses. and
talk reason instead Of bosh and bIus-
tor.
- 81. 4. ~ te||.I.' I' i t'-f,